Mr Mason and the Kiss
by organanation
Summary: Perry calls Della in the middle of the night which leads to a bit of a falling out, a hard look at truth for Perry, a case of the sniffles for Della, and something of a first kiss for our favorite pair... Final scene contains a cameo and explains how the office staff grew beyond Perry and Della!
1. Chapter 1

The phone rang, jolting Della awake. The alarm clock said 2:15 am: only one person would be calling at this time.

"Hello?"

"Della, I need you to go to the office."

No pleasantries, no greeting, no apology. That was how these phone calls went.

"Ok," she replied, reaching for the pencil and paper she left on her nightstand.

"Take a cab to my office. In the bottom drawer of my desk, there's a blue envelope. I need you to bring it to me. My car is in the garage," he instructed.

"Where?"

"I'm at the police station. It's my emergency bail money."

Della rolled her eyes. Of course, he was bailing someone out of jail in the middle of the night. "Who are we bailing out?"

"Well, uh...Paul and me."

"Paul and you _what?" _Della asked, wondering if the conversation cut out while he finished the statement.

"Paul and I need to be bailed out," Perry repeated sheepishly.

"Perry, I _told_ you-"

"We'll talk about it when you get here, Della." His response was firm, much like his tone when speaking with a client who was keeping things from him. The line clicked closed before she could argue.

00

Della looked like a disapproving mother as Perry and Paul came out of the gated hall. Her arms were folded and she looked expectantly at Perry, waiting for him to start talking.

"The homicide detective got a bit carried away, is all," he assured her. "We were well within the confines of the law."

"People who act well within the confines of the law don't need to get bailed out of jail at three in the morning," Della snapped. "I want a better explanation than that."

"Go home and get some rest, Paul," Perry instructed. The private detective looked more than happy to get out of the sightline of the very angry Della. "I can take you home before I go back to the office," he told her.

"I'll take a cab," she spat angrily. "I'm still waiting for an explanation," she said angrily. Perry looked a bit taken aback by her lingering resentment.

"We were watching the Barring residence, just as I told you we were going to do. Eli Reicher showed up, just as I suspected, and we tailed him around the back of the house. Turns out the police were also staking out the place. They grabbed all three of us as co-conspirators. It will take only Mr. Barring's word that we had permission to be on the property to clear Paul and I of all the charges that Lieutenant Tragg threw at us," Perry assured, leading her out to the parking lot.

The rain that had been threatening to fall earlier was now coming down in droves. Della pulled the collar of her raincoat up against the weather.

"Thank you for coming," he said, walking her through the dark parking lot to the street.

"I thought you said there wasn't a risk in going out to the Barring place tonight," Della changed the subject abruptly.

"Well, no more risk than usual, I suppose."

"Perry, look at me." She looked him square in the eye, the rainwater glinting off her face and throwing her tense expression into harsh relief. "You're not thinking! You're of no use to any of your clients when you're in jail, and heavens, if you were to be _disbarred_?!" she said.

"Everything requires a little danger when dealing with criminals, Della. It's a high-stakes, no limit game. Sometimes, you have to lose a lot to go after the bigger pot," he explained, trying to soften her.

"This isn't some Wednesday night poker game, Perry, this is your _career._ _Our_ careers!"

"I'm well aware of that!"

"You don't think any of this is just a little cavalier? I don't think Gertie has ever had to bail Mr. Burger out of jail!" she shouted as thunder rumbled over the city.

"You know better than comparing anything I do to our illustrious district attorney," Perry shot back.

"You scared me tonight, Perry! You scare me every time you go out on a limb for a client like this, and it makes me even more angry that I can't do anything but love you more for it," she admitted.

Perry was silent, searching her hurt face as the rain continued to fall around them. He took her gently but suddenly the the shoulders.

A gust of wind blew through the parking lot and blew Della's coat open. Perry saw a thin floral pattern before she yanked the coat closed.

"Are you in your nightgown?" he asked.

"It's three in the morning! You told me nothing other than the fact that you and Paul were in _jail_ and that you needed bail money. What did you expect, a ball gown?"

"No, of course not. I...Della…" A cab pulled up to the curb. "Get in and get warm. You'll catch your death on a night like this," he told her, releasing her as suddenly as he'd touched her.

Perry watched as the tail lights on the car faded into the driving rain, water dripping from the brim of his hat into his eyes. _I should have kissed her_, he thought.

00

When the phone rang this time, Della wasn't jolted awake. She was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out why she felt so terrible.

"Hello?"

"I just wanted to make sure you made it home." His voice was quiet, almost hurt.

She knew why she felt terrible.

"Oh, yes."

The line was silent for a moment, and they both started to speak at once.

"Listen, I'm sor-"

"Perry, I didn't mean-"

They were silent again for a moment, and Della bit her lip.

"I didn't intend to scare you. I'm sorry," he repeated.

"And I didn't mean to snap at you. Well, I suppose I did, but-"

"I understand, Della. You had every right to be upset. And if you'd rather I not call you in the middle of the night with things like this-"

"No, no, of course not. This is part of my job. I just-lost my head."

"I...I need someone to trust. Completely, with everything. It's a big responsibility, and a big weight to carry around. I don't want to burden you with that if-"

"Perry, its...I wouldn't want it any other way. I want to be the one you can trust completely, but you have to trust me, too. Don't keep me in the dark about things."

"I won't," he promised. She heard him try to stifle a yawn.

"Get some sleep, Counselor," Della instructed softly.

"You too, Ms. Street. In the interest of full disclosure, we'll likely be visited by a member of the bar association."

"I'll be sure to bring my prettiest smile," she teased.

"That will distract them all, I'm sure," he replied, the sound of a smile on his voice bringing one to her own lips. "Goodnight, Della."


	2. Chapter 2

A representative from the bar association came at 1 o'clock the next afternoon. Della had sat in her office, typing, listening to the reprimand and Perry's argument against it. He was hell-bent on making his point. The man left around four, looking rather weary. Della understood the feeling.

She didn't waste time before joining Perry in his office.

"I take in the bar doesn't appreciate its members being arrested," she surmised.

"Not particularly. Barring did his part this morning, though, so luckily there won't be any serious repercussions."

Della sneezed and wiped her nose on her handkerchief.

"Bless you."

"The DA's office called. Depositions are tomorrow at 10. Preliminaries are tentatively scheduled for the beginning of next week, so long as Burger's current case wraps up by then."

"Well, we'd best get a handle on things here before we're out of the office, then."

"I'll get the mail." She returned moments later with a stack of mail. Della said little as she took notes in her book, stopping now and then to blow her nose.

"And the rest of these, you know how to answer. Just the usual."

Della sniffled again, dabbing her nose on her handkerchief. "Yes, chief."

"We're done here. Go home and get some rest."

"We are absolutely not done," she returned. "I've got to sort all of this so it can be filed."

"None of this is that important. Your health, however, is."

"Putting this off for another day isn't going to make me feel any better."

"How about this. We'll bring it to your apartment and pick up the ingredients for chicken soup on the way. I'll make dinner and you can sort."

They stopped at a supermarket on the drive across town and found themselves in Della's clean apartment within the hour.

"Where is the filing?" Della asked. Perry looked at her with a surprised look on his face.

"Tsk, tsk. I _did_ tell you I'd carry that out to the car, didn't I? I seem to have left it at the office," he apologized. Only Della could tell that the sincerity in his voice was fake, but she couldn't muster any indignation at him.

"Highly suspect, Mr. Mason," she returned.

"Why don't you go take a warm shower while the soup cooks? I'll just make myself at home," he assured. Della rolled her eyes but did as he suggested.

Thirty minutes later, she was tucked up to the table, sniffling and eating spoonfuls of Perry's suspiciously delicious soup.

"What do you think about hiring a receptionist?" Perry asked suddenly.

"Am I not doing a good job?" she replied.

"On the contrary. You're so invaluable to me that I want to make sure you aren't stuck answering the phones and mailing bills. I need you with me all the time."

Della looked at her soup for a minute, contemplating her answer, and Perry waited patiently. "I love our adventures," she admitted. "I...wouldn't want to miss them because you felt I'd be more efficient running the office."

Perry reached across the table and took her hand. "Now, now, my dear Ms. Street. I've relied on you during my adventures for the better part of 18 months now. My office is wherever I happen to be, and I wouldn't want anyone running it besides you. As for our space at the Brent Building, I should think an extra hand for the filing and the switchboard might be welcome. Someone to free you from your desk when I need you to come along on a case."

Della nodded. "I suppose that's agreeable."

"No one could ever take your place with me, Della. Understand?"

"Yes, Chief." She smiled across the table at him as he held her hand in his.

"Good." He nodded in affirmation, squeezing her hand.

They took care of the dishes and Della put on a pot of herbal tea.

"I should be going. You need to rest," Perry said.

"Thank you for making dinner," she said, walking him to the door.

"Of course. I was the one that drug you out in the rain in the first place," he excused. He reached for the doorknob but stopped short. "Last night, Della, there's something I wanted to do. It wasn't the right time, and truth be told, I don't know if now is either, but-" she stopped him with a gentle hand on his arm.

"If you're asking to kiss me goodnight, the answer is yes," she said quietly.

He raised an eyebrow at her intuition. "Am I that transparent?" he asked with a smile.

"Not to everyone," she murmured, stepping closer. "Just to me."

He bowed his head and their lips met briefly. Della felt a shiver of electricity at the contact.

"Call me in the morning if you don't feel well," he said when they parted, almost in a whisper because they hadn't moved away from each other. "I can manage for a day or two on my own."

"I think I'll be right as rain after a good night's sleep," she replied quietly.

"I won't disturb you," he promised, casting a fleeting glance toward the telephone on the side table. "Goodnight, Della."

She murmured a reply as he stepped out the door. She latched and locked it behind him, the electric crackle still in the air from his kiss moments earlier. Somehow, she felt as if that kiss would keep her properly disturbed all night long.

00

Someone knocked on the door to Della's office. She looked up and was surprised to see Gertie, Hamilton Burger's former secretary, with whom Della had worked in the secretarial pool at Billings and Dawson.

"Oh, Della, I'm so excited. Mr. Mason said he's been in need of a receptionist for weeks and you _insisted_ on me," she chirped happily. "You know, of course, how much of a strain it was working for Mr. Burger-not that Mr. Burger himself, of course, was such a hard man to work for-just the hours. I'm much more suited to _this_ job. Switchboard, mail, filing, you know," she chattered happily.

"Oh, Gertie, I'm so happy you made it," Perry greeted, coming into Della's office from the other side. "Della can get you started on the filing. And when Gertie is sufficiently settled, Della, we've got to get to the courthouse for depositions. It wouldn't do to take away Mr. Burger's best help _and_ stand him up on the same day."

_AN: And with that, we've got their first kiss cemented into the series! Stay tuned for a few more...I promise there is more to come! Please review, and thanks for reading! ON_


End file.
